Oy. I know it's been a long time since I last updated. Does anyone still come here, checking to see if there's a new chapter? Probably not. I apologize. I got into a mad rush of business, and kind of forgot about this story for a while. This is the soul reason why you write up an entire story before you post it. Lesson learned.
On another note, I've really noticed how short my chapters are. I'm really dissappointed - this one is only three pages in Microsoft Word Processor. There's definitely room for improvement. However, while working on chapter four or five, maybe? it's really getting longer. This is definitely good.
Last thing, please bear with me for a bit longer. Things are going to get a lot less hectic soon, and I really want to get more dedicated to my writing again. This means that chapters will probably be coming a lot more often.
So without further ado, Chapter 3!
I walked around the corner in the cold, damp corridors of the dungeon floor, then stopped. However, footsteps still echoed down the hall. They echoed through the long, empty passages of the dungeons, making them sound ten times louder than they should have. I turned and looked behind me, but I didn't see anyone. However, the sound continued, and was getting louder. It couldn't have been water dripping onto the floor, it was much too loud.
I continue walking, even though the sound continues. Finally, I stop and turn back around. Ten feet back, wearing a perplexed look at my stopping, is none other than Lupin. He stopped abruptly, and the echoing footsteps ended simultaneously. I was amazed to see him for a few seconds, then the shock came back, and I recovered myself.
"Were you following me?" I asked angrily. Wow, maybe I shouldn't have cared about not saying goodbye .Not only was he a crazy psycho stalker, but I also had no need to say goodbye to him, because we weren't leaving each other's company. I was creeped out by this, and I knew it showed.
"I wasn't following you," he replied. Uh huh, sure. He continued.
"I don't know where you were heading to, but I'm going to my first class - Potions." Whoops.
Carefully taking my foot out of my mouth, I tried to once again regain my composure. Maybe appearing really confident would work - except for the fact that I really didn't know how.
"Funny you didn't mention that before. If you really anted to be that close to me, you should have kept talking to me. Would have given you an excuse to stay close."
"You left in such a hurry, I had no choice. Besides, I'm more apt to stalk from afar. They're less likely to notice me, they're easier to lure into a trap, and I can mentally undress them."
Two for two, not bad. Kept a pretty good head, considering the circumstances, and a good sense of humor - dry and subtle, just the way I like it. I laughed at this, in spite of myself. He smiled back, showing he's in on the jokes, but once again, the smile didn't reach his eyes. A little sparkle showed up, but nothing more.
We both started walking down the corridor again, to the Potions classroom - this time, right next to each other. Small talk commenced, but nothing that I would end up remembering. We walked into the classroom, but stopped. All the eyes in the classroom turned towards us as we entered. I looked at them, then over at Remus. Then it hit me. Head Boy Gryffindor and a Slytherin within two feet of each other, acting civil? Almost unheard of. He realized this at the same time, and we both go to separate sides of the room. One of the only open tables is one way towards the front, right side. Remus goes to the middle row, about half way back. Seats around the classroom slowly start to fill in. Five minutes later, the bell rings, and everyone has a seat. However, no one sat down at my table I'm used to that, though.
A door on the side of the classroom opened, and a man walked out. You could immediately tell he had the aura of power around him. Long, black hair, well below his shoulders, most of it streaked gray with age. Dark blue eyes, which would normally be attractive, but looked menacing on him. Long dark green robes, heavily accented with black decoration - Slytherin colors. Professor Lance was well beyond his prime as a teacher. Head of Slytherin house, and once an excellent potions master. Now he was slowly losing his hearing, and his potions weren't always reliable. It would only be a few more years before he retired.
He swept from the side door to the front of the classroom. The whole room immediately went silent; even though he was old, he was still respected, and even feared. He cleared his throat unnecessarily, and began his yearly speech.
"Since you have all managed to keep up in your work for me to allow you into my classes, I'm going to assume that you can all handle more challenging potions. This is your seventh year in my classes, which is also your N.E.W.T.s year. This, above all, will be the time to prove yourself."
At that last sentence, the person in the table next to mine moved. I glanced over. Of course - Severus Snape. He had always been very interested in potions. On learning that he needed to prove himself, he sat up taller - both to look more professional, and to express that he was paying closer attention. Not noticing, Professor Lance continued.
"That being said, the grading will be much less lenient this year. If it were up to me, many of you would not even be here right now-" he threw many dirty looks at the Gryffindors "-but you are none-the-less. This is also a very important time while proving your ability for future careers. I dare say none of you would want to be hear another year for lack of ability, and I certainly won't be willing to take you again. So I assure all of you that this will be the best year to succeed. Is that clear?"
As with any rhetorical question, nobody answered. Professor Lance nodded, then grabbed a piece of parchment on his desk. He began reading off names, taking role. My name was called at the beginning of the list, so I waited 'til then, then no longer paid attention. However, for some reason, one name pulled me out of my daze.
"Lupin, Remus."
"Here."
I looked over my shoulder, back to where the voice came from. Remus was half paying attention, bent down over a parchment. It looked like he was scribbling something out on it. His dirty blond hair fell over his eyes, but I saw it when his eyes raised up, and his bright blue orbs locked up with mine. I felt drawn to keep looking at him, but after a few seconds, I snapped out of it. I gave a feeble attempt at a grin, then whipped forward again. I wasn't sure if he was looking or not, but I was thankful I was facing the front - for the second time in just over twelve hours, I felt my cheeks burning up. Although this time I wasn't humiliated, so I wasn't quite sure why I was blushing.
After roll call, Professor Lance put the parchment away. He magicked directions up on the board, then what the potion was - a veritiserum! I never thought I'd cover these at Hogwarts! Professor Lance explained what the potion was, that it would be complicated to make, it would take over a month, blah blah blah... I started pulling my ingredients out, and put my cauldron on the burner. As soon as he stopped explaining, I had already measured out the first ingredient.
The class went by very quickly. Measure, pour. Measure, pour. The occasional stirring. And he said this potion was supposed to be difficult? Ha. At the end of the period, my potion was a nice, dazzling white, and a slight red mist was rising from it, just as it was supposed to. I poured all of the potion into a large flask that was handed out, and put the cork in. I wrote my name on the side of the flask, set it into the potions closet, and went back to my table to clean up.
The bell rang just as I sat down again. I started to hurry and put everything away. The classroom began to empty, and I was soon alone. In my haste to clean everything quickly, I swung my elbow too far. Smash. I looked behind me and saw my Chinese Fireball dragon blood spilled all over the floor, glass jar shattered all over. My expensive dragon's blood.
"Shit!"
"Now, now, such language for a prefect."
I slapped my hand over my mouth, then turned around to see who it was. Of course⦠the worst possible person it could have been, short of Dumbledor. Remus. I sheepishly smiled, then grabbed a rag.
"Yeah, I know. I just wouldn't have chosen dragon blood to be the thing I spilled."
I started to wipe the blood up, then walked over to the garbage.
"Hold on," Remus called out.
He walked over to where I spilled it, taking his wand out. He pointed it towards the glass.
"Reparo."
The shards of glass flew together and reconnected perfectly. He walked over to me and took the rag. He twisted it up, and all the blood trickled back into the jar. Oh. Duh. Why hadn't I thought of that? He handed the jar back to me and smiled.
"It would be a pity to let all that dragon blood go to waste."
"Thanks."
I set the jar safely into the potion set, then into my bag. We both walked to the door, then out. He started to walk right, and I left. I stopped and turned back to him.
"Well this seems to be where we part. See you at lunch, I guess."
"Lunch it is, then."
He smiled again, only for a second, but what seemed like a minute. Then he turned and walked down the corridor. I watched him go the entire way, not being able to look away, then as he disappeared around a corner, I turned and started towards Charms.
